No arrests made in Northeast El Paso shooting death of Andress High student

No arrests have been made in connection with the slaying of an Andress High School senior who police said was the target of a gang-related shooting Monday night.

Christian Duran, 18, was shot in the torso about 7:20 p.m. while he was trying to back his car into his driveway on the 5000 block of DeBeers Drive, just three blocks west of Andress.

Duran later died at University Medical Center. He is El Paso's first homicide of 2013.

The El Paso Police Department's Crimes Against Persons Unit and Gang Unit are investigating the shooting.

A Facebook page for Duran shows several photos of Duran and other young men displaying blue bandannas and making hand signs. In one photo, Duran is wearing a "Sureño" jersey.

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Aaron Bracamontes

Sureños are a street gang originating in Southern California, according to law enforcement sources. Sureño is Spanish for Southerner. The gang uses the color blue. There are Sureño gangs in cities across the country.

On Tuesday, students at Andress began to learn about Duran's death, before police had released his name.

"We are saddened by the loss of one of our students," El Paso Independent School District Interim Superintendent Vernon L. Butler said in a statement. "Our thoughts and prayers are with the family and friends at this difficult time."

EPISD spokeswoman Renee De Santos said grief counselors were on campus Tuesday and available to talk to students, teachers and staff members.

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Ismael Barraza, a journalism teacher at Andress, said he heard about Duran's death on Monday night over Twitter.

"I just never thought he would hang around people that would ever think of doing that to him," Barraza said. "It hurt because I never saw him show any type of anger toward anyone. He was a tall guy, but he was very quiet."

Duran was a student in two of Barraza's classes during the past couple of years.

"He always came in and would shake my hand," Barraza said. "Not many kids do that nowadays."